Thursday, September 4, 2003
A British Jew reports from one of the front lines of European anti-Semitism in this thoughtful piece involving personal experience and a look at some of the sources.
FrontPage magazine.com - London: A Leftist Axis of Anti-Semitism By Melanie Phillips
I first realized that public opinion had turned nasty in December 2001, when I appeared on a flagship BBC television current-affairs show. An Israeli in the audience asked why Israel was being condemned for taking action against terrorists similar to the moves America was making in its own war on terror.
My fellow panelists, including a Labor and a Conservative member of Parliament, deplored Israel’s brutality and the “terrorism on both sides.” The audience was even more hostile. When it was my turn, I said there was a double standard; I wondered why people were sympathetic when Israelis died, but not sympathetic when they tried to prevent themselves from dying; and said that the Palestinian Authority was a sponsor of terror and incited violence daily against Israelis and Jews across the world.
The audience responded by hissing at me. Even worse, when I said that Israel was a democracy, they laughed derisively. A fellow panelist then accused me of having “double loyalties” because I was a Jew...
It's not just Britain that suffers from "astounding ignorance." Her last two paragraphs are right on the money for most of America too, particularly the left.
What has the creation of Israel got to do with Jew or Arabs for that matter ? I thought Israel came into being because Queen Victoria placed a Jew [Disraeli] into a prime position in the English Empire and thus opened the door for Jewish participation in the politics of 'Empire'. Todays Palestinians [ including Jews who live in palestine] just got caught up in this dangerous mix of rhetoric and political grab for land and resources.
I don't see how you can characterize the creation of Israel as a grab for resources - there weren't any there, although the British were certainly interested in friendly governments being in place in the region. But that became more and more clearly achievable by siding with the Arab Muslims against the Jews, as witnessed by the gradual whittling down of the original portion of the Palestine Mandate set aside for Jewish immigration - a sequence really begun by Prime Minister Balfour, a Millenialist Christian. Rather than driving the issue themselves, I'd see the British position as reactionary to the pressures of the Jewish Communities and their desire for immigration to Palestine, and the Muslims and their desire to block it.
Shanah Tovah. Have a Good Year!
David Zohar
Jerusalem
Shanah Tovah. Have a Good Year!
David Zohar
Jerusalem
Shanah Tovah. Have a Good Year!
David Zohar
Jerusalem
Shanah Tovah. Have a Good Year!
David Zohar
Jerusalem